Local Students Semifinalists in Essay Contest

Athif Wulandana of Forest Hills and Jenna Hebert of Edgewood are two of 11 Shady Side Academy seniors who have been named semifinalists in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $34 million, that will be offered next spring. There are approximately 16,000 semifinalists nationwide.

The Shady Side Academy semifinalists also include:
Yuval Ben-David of Squirrel Hill)
Shamika Digh of North Huntingdon
Cody Han of Irwin
Peter Kann of Fox Chapel 
Christopher Leech of Squirrel Hill
Campbell Nilsen of Fox Chapel 
Vivek Nimgaonkar of Point Breeze
Alexander Rodosky of Fox Chapel
Amy Zhang of Cheswick

These students were among more than 1.5 million high school juniors who took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.

To become a finalist, semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the principal/school head and earn SAT scores that confirm the qualifying test performance. The semifinalist and a school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes an essay and information about participation and leadership in school and community activities.

Approximately 15,000 semifinalists (90 percent) are expected to advance
to the finalist level. Finalists compete for one of 2,500 National Merit
$2,500 Scholarships, as well as 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships
and 4,800 college-sponsored awards.

Shady Side Academy is a private school in for boys and girls in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, with an optional five-day boarding experience in high school. For more information, visit www.shadysideacademy.org.